I was worried this might be the piece that got me. My friend Mina sent me a text and said “this is on the curb in my neighborhood”. I drove by and knew I could save it so in the Blue Happy truck it went. Once I got it home the story started to change. The hardware was broken and trashed. All but one drawer was stuck closed. This must have been why they got rid of it. You could tell they tried to open them by all the drilled holes in the drawer fronts. The top had drilled holes, nicks and staples all over it. Other than that it was a good bones piece by Drexel Furniture.
It sat in my garage for a few weeks. I think I just don’t wanna tackle a hard piece in this busy season of my life. A few days ago I was out in the garage preparing for the “Great Hail storm of 2019” that never happened and I touched it. That was all it took for my creative heart to turn my attention. It was full on start the repairs. All of the holes and there were many had to be filled. I also had to remove the trashed hardware and fill those holes as well. Once done it had to sit for a day for all the fill to dry. After drying I sanded those spots to make it smooth.
Day two was about sealing the piece. It had lots of stains and peeling varnish. I lightly sanded those areas to remove the loose varnish. When a piece is weathered and worn like this was it helps to seal the piece first. If you don’t and you paint it white it can and most always will yellow the paint. I use Defender by Chalk Country Paint to seal it. Most often you don’t have to seal or sand to chalk paint.
Now for the fun part. I love, love, love to paint. Doesn’t matter what it is from a canvas masterpiece to a chuck of old furniture. It’s relaxing to me, it fuels me and feeds my creative brain. I used the color Pure White. Most often I only do two coats but this one needed three for full coverage. Once dry I took my palm sander to it to shabby it up. The new hardware was just what it needed to add the chic.
Lots of work in this one. I avoided it because I knew that. Once I put my mind to it and my heart in it the labor of love seemed worth it. I think we give up on things to fast these days. We have evolved into a “toss it out society”. I wish I would have started this so many years ago, oh the money I would have saved.
Pam
April 20, 2019Wait, you didn’t talk about if you got the drawers unstuck and moving. So curious how and why that might have happened and how you solved the problem.